(The Center Square) – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration warned Americans Tuesday that fentanyl is increasingly mixed with a dangerous array of synthetic substances that can limit the effectiveness of naloxone, the standard overdose reversal drug, making the illicit drug supply more unpredictable and more lethal than ever.

Law enforcement and public health officials are seeing fentanyl combined with xylazine, medetomidine, nitazenes and cychlorphine – substances that either cannot be reversed by naloxone or require multiple doses to counter, the DEA said in a public safety advisory. Users typically have no way of knowing what is in the drugs they are taking.

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